SwedishAmerican opening new wellness center next month at YMCA

Wednesday

Feb 19, 2014 at 3:49 PMFeb 19, 2014 at 4:25 PM

By Melissa WestphalRockford Register Star

ROCKFORD - People can seek out services including weight management counseling and massage therapy next month at the new SwedishAmerican BetterLife Wellness center, a partnership with the YMCA of Rock River Valley.

The center is located near the main entrance of the I.D. Pennock Family YMCA, 200 Y Blvd.

SwedishAmerican is leasing the space and spent more than $300,000 renovating the area to include classrooms, space for massage therapy and yoga, and private counseling rooms for the members.

Services start March 1, and the general membership fee is $12 per month, which gives people access to two 30-minute health coaching sessions, discounts on retail services and programs, monthly recipe taste-testing and unlimited access to certain classes and educational programs.

It will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.

The center is open to the public, and Y members pay a discounted fee of $9.60 per month. There are additional fees for services such as therapeutic massage, weight management programs and personalized health coaching.

Bobbi Chance of Loves Park toured the center Wednesday morning during a regular visit to the Y. She complimented the center's design and plans to research the center more.

"It's good that they're doing this for people and you can access it easily here at the Y," Chance said.

Rockford's big three hospitals have been pushing more wellness projects in recent years as reimbursements from government and private insurers decrease. Hospitals are penalized for unnecessary hospital readmissions and are now being given better financial incentives to keep people well.

Many of the state health exchange programs as part of the Affordable Care Act offer high-deductible insurance plans with hefty out-of-pockets costs, so it benefits people medically and financially to keep themselves healthy, said Don Daniels, SwedishAmerican's executive vice president and chief operating officer.

"If you want to avoid staying sick, you try to stay healthy, and this helps support folks who want to do that and gives them options," Daniels said.